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In this forum all are welcome to ask blue tongue skink-related questions, share information, ideas, tips, experiences, and pictures with fellow BTS enthusiasts.If you are wondering if your BTS is acting normally or might be sick, this is where you can get help with that.This is also where you can have some FUN while sharing the enjoyment you get from your blueys!

Hi everyone! I just joined this group as I have found out there is a Blue Tongue Lizard in our roof! We have been renting our house for 18 months and have heard a sliding noise coming from the ceiling. I assumed it was a snake until it started making scratching noises as well. We had termite inspectors visit the other day and they were very surprised to find a lizard living up there! This was extremely baffling as there is no way for a lizard to climb up to our roof, or for anything to get in or out. So tonight, now knowing it wasn't a snake, I braved the manhole to leave a piece of fruit for the poor fella, and found a small plate and a water dish already up there! So I'm thinking someone deliberately put him there and left him behind. So it has been at least 18 months with no human contact, I have no idea how he got water or enough food, I'm guessing there's cockroaches and spiders and other bugs. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has a better idea of how he survived and can give me advice on what to do. Can I let him out in the garden if he has been a pet his whole life? I live on East Coast Australia, NSW, its spring now, last summer we had temperatures around 42 degrees Celsius for several days in a row. I cant believe he survived this long in our roof!

That is amazing! Poor little guy. Hopefully, he wasn't someones pet and dumped. I don't know the rules in Australia, but if he was here in the states I would catch it and keep it if I could. Good luck and let us know what happens.

You should get up there and rescue him ASAP , get him down, more than likely he's been put there to deal with birds nesting in the roof or to deal with mice. Some A.H. has put him there on purpose.

He'll roast up there in the roof when the really hot weather arrives (can reach 50 degrees C in a tiled roof , even hotter in a colorbond (steel) roof , and those kinds of temperatures will kill him).

Not to mention he'll starve up there ,he has no access to water and no access to UV at all.

Also you have no idea if he's wild or captive bred, if captive bred releasing him to the wild is a death sentence for him. Even if he's wild caught , you have no idea where her was caught and releasing him to wild puts him a risk of being killed by the resident BTS who have resident territories and who will defend these from trespassing BTS and will attack him and who are perfectly capable of killing him.

Sounds like you've scored a pet BTS. To hell with the rules , he's a BTS in need of rescuing and rehabilitating and since he's in your roof , you are the one who should help him.

I completely agree with King, so if you don't mind having a pet lizard he definitely can use a little human intervention, may take a while to earn your trust as an unsavory human left him there in the first place. Geez, why can't things like that happen to me??? Take care of him, and he will be a rewarding pet! Save him!!!